


put a spell on you

by magnificentbirb



Category: ATEEZ (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Non-Famous, Fluff, Haunted Houses, M/M, Meet-Cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-30
Updated: 2020-10-30
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:42:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,433
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27274366
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/magnificentbirb/pseuds/magnificentbirb
Summary: San works at a haunted house and gets a bit distracted by a tall, handsome guy who, for some mysterious reason, keeps coming back.
Relationships: Choi San/Jeong Yunho
Comments: 34
Kudos: 189





	put a spell on you

**Author's Note:**

> ateez: masters of creepy halloween concepts  
> me: writes this unrepentant fluff for spooky season
> 
> jazz hands
> 
> enjoy~!

“Jongho says we have a scaredy cat coming,” Wooyoung hisses from the doorway into their room as he scurries back into place, a finger lifted to his left eye, readjusting one of his contacts.

“Stop that,” San scolds from his own spot in the corner, voice hushed. “That’s why your eye gets all red after a shift.”

“No, my eye gets all red because these white-out lenses are fucking torture.” Wooyoung blinks forcefully a few times, face contorting, trying to get the lens to settle. “My fingers are perfectly clean, thank you very much.”

“Sure they are,” San mutters, but he lets it go, not wanting to get Wooyoung started on another contact lens rant. The lenses they wear are professional grade, tinted to make their eyes look clouded over and ghastly, perfect for a haunted house zombie. San has his own pair in, and they’re already starting to ache, but it’s worth it for the screams he gets every time he lurches into the path of a group of nervously giggling high school students.

“How many rooms away is the scaredy cat?” San asks, keeping his voice low beneath the ambient background noise of their haunted room, tinny recordings of distant screams and gunshots, an attempt at mimicking a realistic zombie apocalypse.

“Just entered the maze,” Wooyoung whispers back, “so about two minutes or so until they hit us?”

“How big is the group?”

“Just two of them, apparently,” Wooyoung says. “College age. One giant scaredy cat and then his friend making fun of him the whole way.”

“Excellent,” San says.

They both hunker down into their positions, Wooyoung crouched near the exit of their room, prepared to snatch at the ankles of patrons who think they’ve escaped the zombie room, and San nearer to the entrance, lying in an ungainly, broken sprawl across a set piece painted to look like a collapsed corrugated metal roof. His flexibility comes in handy here; he twists his knee back, crooks his arms into unnatural angles, cocks his head like his neck is broken. He workshopped the pose with Wooyoung and Jongho before the haunted house opened for the season, made them take pictures and hold mirrors so he could adjust until the sprawl was perfect, a broken marionette, apparently dead until patrons shuffle nervously into the room, whispering and terrified. 

San listens hard, his heart thumping as it always does, no matter how many years he’s worked at the haunted house, or how many groups he scares on any given weekend throughout the month of October. It’s a performance every time, and damnit, he is _good at it_ , so every new group is a chance to flex his acting muscles and give someone the best scare he can.

He hears the distant deep, rough-voiced scream of Jongho’s proclaimed scaredy cat before the pair even enters their room, and his lips twitch into a smile. The man’s scream is accompanied by a warm laugh, so clearly at least one of them is having fun.

Soon enough, San hears the scrape of shoes on cement, and the hushed voices of the group of two as they enter the zombie room.

“Oh fuck, no no no, man, no, you know how I feel about zombies, this is—is that one gonna move? Oh my god, Yunho, this is the worst, you’re the worst, I hate you so fucking much—” 

“Shut up, this room’s cool,” says the warm, laughing voice from earlier. “And yeah, he’s gonna move, I think. Be ready.”

San knows the friend is talking about him, which is fine, because he knows he doesn’t look like a mannequin, so he just stays still—head cocked at an unnatural angle, white-glazed eyes staring into nothing—until they’ve stepped a bit further into the room. He watches them from the corner of his eye as he bides his time; it’s just the two of them, silhouettes in the darkness, both rather tall. One of them is clinging to the other, his face half-hidden in his friend’s shoulder.

“God, why would you say that?” says the deeper voice, the frightened one. “Please don’t move, man,” he says, and this time he’s apparently addressing San, which San finds rather hilarious. “We’re just passing through, please don’t move, oh my god, how do his _joints do that—_?”

San chooses this moment to twitch to life, jerking his limbs loudly against the metal beneath him, making the frightened man jump and screech. It’s an incredibly satisfying feeling, getting the guy to scream, but what’s even more satisfying is the way even the guy’s less scared friend jolts, shocked by the sudden noise and the way San contorts himself into an upright position, keeping his head cocked to one side, eyes wide and unblinking and now laser-focused on the two of them. San takes them in as he shudders to his feet; the scaredy cat has light brown hair and a striking face, eyes squeezed shut in fear; the friend he’s clinging to has fluffy blond hair and handsome features, smiling even as he laughs at his own reaction.

“Oh my god, that’s awesome,” says the blond guy, beaming, and he’s so handsome and looks so genuinely pleased by San that it’s hard for San to feel anything but satisfied, despite the fact that the man is clearly not the least bit scared.

“‘ _Awesome_ ’?” the guy’s friend half-shrieks, cringing back from San as San starts to shuffle towards them, dragging his steps, mouth gaping and eyes unblinking, limbs still jerking like he’s being electrocuted. He’s practiced this countless times; he _knows_ how unsettling he looks, how inhuman, and it’s clearly working on the scaredy cat, at least. “Oh god he’s coming closer, Yunho, move move move, let’s go.”

“Wait, he’s so good, though!” says the friend (Yunho, apparently), putting up a lackluster effort to resist his friend’s shoving. 

“No, nope, we’re not doing this, come on,” says the scaredy cat, starting to drag Yunho away. San lunges for them, keeping just far enough away that his fingers barely graze the sleeve of the scaredy cat’s jacket, making the man yell and stumble back, dragging his friend with him.

“ _Ow_ , Mingi, oh my god,” Yunho says, laughing. “He’s an _actor_ , he’s not gonna—”

“Don’t care!” Mingi shouts, wrapping his hands around Yunho’s bicep and yanking him away from San. “He’s creepin’ me out, let’s go!”

“Sorry,” Yunho says over his shoulder to San, who is still staring them down, head cocked and unblinking, his eyes starting to prickle from it. “You’re doing a great job! Very creepy! Ten out of ten! Keep up the good work!”

And then they’re out of San’s area, heading for Wooyoung next. San stays in character, stumbling along behind them, even as he hears Mingi shriek at the way Wooyoung lashes out for his ankles, Wooyoung’s well-practiced zombie rasp barely audible over Yunho’s bubbling laughter. That laugh makes San’s belly feel pleasantly tingly; he clamps down on the emotion, unwilling to let it ruin his focus for the rest of the night, and watches as Yunho waves at Wooyoung and half-carries, half-drags Mingi out of the room, on to be victimized by mad scientist Hongjoong next.

Their room becomes quiet again, save for the distant screams of other patrons and the tinny background noise filtering in over the speakers.

“That guy’s gonna pee his pants before he makes it through the rest of the house,” Wooyoung says, his voice a little rough from his zombie noises. 

“Probably,” San says.

“They seemed nice, though.”

San nods absently, hearing that genuine _Oh my god, that’s awesome_ still echoing in his brain.

“Hey, you good?” Wooyoung asks him, somehow managing to look concerned even through the fake blood smudged over his lips and the white-out contacts making him look mostly dead.

“Yep, I’m good,” San says, and he is; he’s just a bit distracted by a bright smile and twinkling eyes and a warm laugh. “Let’s get ready for the next group. I can already hear them coming.”

“Yessir, Mr. Awesome Zombie, sir,” says Wooyoung with a fake salute, and San rolls his eyes at him fondly before they both go back to their places.

San wonders vaguely, as he positions himself once again into a broken sprawl, how Mingi and Yunho will do with the rest of the house, but before he can think too much about it, he hears the muffled shrieks of a group of women in the room beside theirs, and then it’s showtime again.

*

The guy named Yunho comes back to the haunted house the next weekend, this time with a different friend in tow, a handsome young man who seems entirely unfazed by his trek through the house.

San and Wooyoung are playing zombies again, as usual for their shift, and San has to refrain from showing any surprise when Yunho and his friend step into the zombie room, both of them relaxed, Yunho grinning bright enough to rival the sun.

“That guy, that guy!” Yunho half-whispers to his friend as soon as they cross the threshold, tugging at his friend’s sleeve like an excited toddler. He indicates San with his chin, apparently polite enough not to point, but San can still feel him staring. San’s heart races a bit quicker than usual at the extra attention. “He’s the really good one, just wait.”

“I expect to be fully terrified,” drawls Yunho’s friend, who at least seems fondly amused by Yunho’s excitement.

San waits longer than usual before jerking to life this time, because he knows that Yunho knows his trick; he needs another way to startle them. He waits until Yunho and his friend have walked almost entirely past him before he lurches upright, staggering off the fake metal rooftop so loudly that both Yunho and his friend jump in surprise, shoulders hiking up defensively.

And then Yunho laughs, which normally San would find a bit irritating, but on Yunho, it’s somehow endearing, because he looks almost _proud_ as San fixes him with his dead, thousand-eyed stare and starts staggering towards them, one hand outstretched, fake-bloodied fingers crimped unnaturally.

“Ooh, he is good,” mutters Yunho’s friend, smiling slightly even as he takes a subtle step back, putting Yunho between himself and San.

“Right?” Yunho says, clearly trying to keep his voice down at least a little bit, but still sounding utterly gleeful. He waves at San with a gleaming smile. “You’re still killing it, man. Great job, super creepy.”

San cocks his head to the other side in two jerking, neck-breaking movements, and Yunho skitters back, laughing.

“Okay, okay, oh my god,” he says, and then lets himself get pulled along by his friend, who curses in a low voice as Wooyoung snatches at his ankles, which makes Yunho chuckle and say, “Yeosang, don’t be mean.”

The last thing San hears from them before they sidle past Wooyoung and into the next room is Yunho’s friend mumbling something that sounds rather like, “You neglected to mention that your zombie guy was hot,” followed by unintelligible stuttering from Yunho, cut off by the door slamming shut behind them.

San stands in the narrow walkway of the room, staring at the closed door. Wooyoung gets to his feet with a wily, bloodied grin.

“His ears got really red,” he says. And then he squints, a rather unsettling expression with the white-out lenses. “Actually, yours are kinda red, too—”

“Let’s just get back into position,” San says quickly, turning away from his irritating best friend, who lets out a high, triumphant cackle behind his retreating back.

San takes up his usual position again with his heart in his throat, thinking about handsome smiles and being referred to as “your zombie guy” and what cutely reddened ears might just mean.

*

“Your admirer came by again,” Seonghwa says after San’s shift the next week. They’re standing together in the main office, Seonghwa still in his vampire get-up, looking like a tired Victorian ghost as he leans against the counter, squinting at their old computer.

San glances up from his phone; he’s out of costume, his hair tucked under a beanie, waiting for Wooyoung to come out so they can head home together.

“My admirer?” he says.

“The tall one,” Seonghwa says absently. “Blond, handsome, fluffy hair, kinda looks like a golden retriever in human form, but hot?”

“Oh.” San blinks, locking his phone, his cheeks heating. “I, ah. I didn’t notice him come through.”

“He didn’t go through the house,” Jongho calls from the other side of the office. “He was waiting for a ‘friend’—” Jongho puts air quotes around the word. “—who apparently never showed up, so he just chatted with us in the office for a bit and then left.”

“Oh.” San frowns. “That… sucks. You think he got stood up?”

Jongho shrugs. “I call it like I see it.”

“Who got stood up?” Wooyoung steps into the room, tugging his hair back into a messy bun.

“San’s boyfriend,” Jongho says.

San shoots Jongho a look. “He’s not my—” 

“Ooh, the tall blond guy?” Wooyoung says.

“That’s the one.” Seonghwa finally looks up from the computer. “He didn’t seem too broken up about it, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“I’m not _worried_ , I don’t even know the guy, that’s just… rough,” San says.

“You’re very convincing,” Wooyoung says, deadpan. He slings an arm over San’s shoulders. “But hey, if he’s single, that means you have a chance!”

“He seems really nice, hyung,” Jongho says.

“Oh my god, I’ve never even spoken to him before,” San says, exasperated, his cheeks starting to burn. “He’s just—”

“He asked about you,” Seonghwa says, leaning over the counter with a cheshire smirk. “Or at least, I assume it was about you. He wanted to know if we knew who the really good zombie actor was.”

“Hey,” Wooyoung says, apparently realizing he could take offense at that, but Seonghwa just waves him off.

“We told him you were our friend and also great,” Jongho says, and then adds, magnanimously, “You’re welcome.”

“He’s cute, San-ah,” Seonghwa says. “Just keep him in mind.”

“You’re menaces, the both of you,” San says, dragging Wooyoung out the front door, but he can’t quite keep the smile from his face.

“Oh my god, you do like him,” Wooyoung says triumphantly as they head to San’s car, shoulders hunched against the chill. Wooyoung links his arm with San’s, tugging him close. “Please date him so I can live vicariously through your love life.”

“For that terrible image, you’re driving.” San tosses the keys to Wooyoung, who snatches them out of the air with a grumble. It’s about a forty-five minute drive from the haunted house to their apartment, so whoever doesn’t drive generally gets to catch a quick nap on the way home. “And who knows? I might not even see him again. October’s almost over, and we close right after Halloween.”

“He’d better get moving, then,” Wooyoung says, unlocking the car.

“We’ll see,” San says quietly, and slides into the passenger’s seat.

*

The fourth time Yunho comes to the haunted house, he’s alone, and San finds him outside the front door instead of in the zombie room.

San stops mid-stride as soon as he catches sight of Yunho standing awkwardly outside the front office, one hand shoved into the pocket of a handsome trench coat, the other scrolling through his phone. Wooyoung rams into San’s back, almost knocking San’s bag off his shoulder.

“ _Ow_ , jeez, what the hell—” Wooyoung says, and then cuts himself off once he, too, catches sight of Yunho standing outside the front of the haunted house. Wooyoung cracks a grin, shoving his elbow into San’s ribs. “Hey look, it’s your Romeo.”

His voice, in true Wooyoung fashion, is not quiet, and Yunho looks up from his phone, meeting San’s eye. His face lights up into a blinding smile, and San’s heart skips a beat.

“Hey,” Yunho says, shoving his phone into his pocket. “I, uh. I’m sorry if this is weird, but I was kind of hoping to meet you outside of the house this time, if that’s okay. Do you have a second?”

San flashes Wooyoung a helpless glance, but Wooyoung just grins at him and nudges him forward.

“Shift starts in an hour, San-ah,” Wooyoung coos, hip-checking San, and then walks past him into the house, shooting Yunho an obnoxious wink.

“Sorry, ignore him,” San says, walking over to Yunho with a smile. “What can I do for you?”

“Oh.” Yunho looks a bit flustered, his cheeks pink in the chilly autumn air. “Uh… Two things! Firstly, I know I already kinda rambled compliments at you while I was going through the haunted house before, but I wanted to let you know, officially, that you’re really talented. The best zombie I’ve ever seen. Honestly. Truly creepy, and I don’t get creeped out that easily.”

“I could tell,” San says, smirking slightly, but he feels flushed with pleasure; Yunho looks entirely genuine, like he wants to make sure that San really believes his compliments. It’s rather endearing. “Thank you. Really. It means a lot that you took the time to personally let me know.”

“Well, about that…” Yunho rubs the back of his neck, looking nervous. “The second thing I wanted to talk to you about is a bit more selfish. I, ah. I’d like to officially get to know you better? If that’s okay with you?” Yunho holds out a hand, which San stares at for a moment, taking in long fingers slightly chapped from the cold and a single subtle, silver band wrapped around Yunho’s middle finger. “I’m Jeong Yunho. Nice to meet you.”

San looks at the offered hand, and then at Yunho’s anxious face, and he can’t help but smile, which seems to relax Yunho a bit.

“Choi San,” San says, shaking Yunho’s hand firmly, and Yunho beams, that same handsome smile that has been lighting up San’s daydreams for the past few weeks.

“San,” Yunho says, as though he’s testing out the name. “Wow. Okay.” And then Yunho flushes, as though just realizing that he blurted out “wow.” “Sorry,” he says, “I just… I don’t do this very often, and I was really nervous to actually introduce myself to you.”

“Why?” San says, grinning, his chest feeling a bit fluttery.

Yunho raises an eyebrow at him, smiling sheepishly. “Sorry if this is kinda forward, but… have you seen you?”

San ducks his head with a nervous laugh. “Look, my friends have all been referring to you as just the ‘hot tall blond guy,’ which seems accurate, so… let’s just say the feeling is mutual.”

Yunho’s smile is blinding, and as San’s heart flips, he decides he’s already well and truly screwed.

“We’re doing great at this, aren’t we?” Yunho jokes.

“Absolutely acing it,” San says.

“Can I give you my number?” Yunho says.

“Yes, please.” San fumbles for his phone in his pocket, unlocks it, and hands it over to Yunho, who takes it carefully, as though it’s the most important thing in the world. His brow furrows a bit in concentration as he types, which San can’t help but find adorable.

“There.” Yunho hands San his phone, and when San glances at the contact entry, he can’t help but laugh.

“‘Tall hot blond guy’?” San says, cocking a brow.

Yunho shrugs, looking pleased. “You said it was accurate.”

“And what will I be saved as in your phone?” San says, shooting a quick text to Yunho’s number. (Just a zombie emoji. It feels fitting.)

“Hmmm… How about ‘hot zombie guy’?” Yunho says.

San smiles. “Acceptable.”

“YA, CHOI SAN, STOP FLIRTING AND GET INTO MAKEUP!” Jongho’s voice carries easily through the crisp October air, and San waves his hand at the front door of the office, trying to shoo the little gremlin away.

“Duty calls?” Yunho says.

“Last weekend for it, but yep,” San says. He fiddles with his phone, hesitating. “So… coffee sometime next week, maybe?”

“Coffee would be perfect,” Yunho says. He holds up his phone, showing San’s message unread on his screen. “I’ll text you?”

“Sounds great,” San says, and then they wave to each other, still a bit awkward, but San can feel pleasant warmth curling in his chest, the giddy excitement that comes with the promise of something new.

“If you have a date next week, Hongjoong-hyung owes me lunch,” Jongho says when San walks into the front office, heading for the changing rooms.

“Pick somewhere expensive,” San says, and grins as Jongho’s triumphant laughter follows him out of the room.

*

**Author's Note:**

> fun fact: they're still dating, and their names in each others' phones are still "tall hot blond guy" and "hot zombie guy."
> 
> thanks for reading! please leave some kudos and a comment, if you enjoyed it~ ♡
> 
> come yodel at me on twit if you like:
> 
> [main account](https://twitter.com/aintitnifty) | [writing account](https://twitter.com/magnificentbirb)


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